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After too many years of waiting, the disc
was finally in my Region 4 DVD player! The first live action
Asterix movie starts promising enough. The tip of a menhir
slowly rises up as Asterix and Obelix are revealed walking
up a slope. It is an image directly out of the Asterix comic
strips. These are the characters we know and love, and played
convincingly by Christian Clavier as Asterix and Gerad Depardieu
as Obelix. Sadly, this note perfect opening is not sustained,
and we are left with an enjoyable, but muddled film.
The blame for this muddle lies firmly in the
film's structure and plot. Existing Asterix stories have been
combined before to create movies, most successfully in the
cartoon movie Asterix vs
Caesar where the plots of Gladiator
and Legionary
were melded seamlessly. But in Take on Caesar are whole heap
of Asterix stories have been sploshed into the script's cauldron
and this is to the film's detriment.
The film opens ala Asterix
the Gaul where Caesar has just conquered Gaul, but is
unaware one small village of indomitable Gauls still holds
out against the invaders… then it segues into Asterix
the Legionary with Panacea arriving in the village complete
with much of the book's early scenarios about Obelix being
smitten with her… then it's the dark and stormy night
from Asterix
and the Soothsayer where Prolix the fortuneteller arrives
and cons everyone except Asterix… then the film borrows
the Roman taxpayer idea from Asterix
the Cauldron, the Gauls take the money, the soothsayer
runs off with it… Getafix goes to the Druid conference
in the forest of Carnutes and gets captured in a scene straight
out of Asterix
and the Goths, Obelix goes to the Roman camp dressed as
Obulus the Legionary as in the same story, Asterix and Getafix
are held prisoner as in Asterix
the Gaul and forced to make the magic potion… then
the film leaves the establish Asterix stories behind and comes
up with a ridiculous third act… before finishing the
film with Obelix's birthday and roman army present from Obelix
and Co!!!
The end result is indeed an episodic, muddled
film without a throughline. The danger of incorporating all
these plot elements from the Asterix stories is that they
can only be used in passing and the best gags from the various
Asterix stories are left on the wayside. The soothsayer doesn't
relate to the main plot and only seems included for some cheap
gags - he feeds Asterix some "magic mushrooms" and
brainwashes him into thinking Obelix is Caesar. This results
in a very unfunny fight between an out of character Asterix
and Obelix. He uses this diversion to steal the taxpayer's
Gold and neither the gold nor the soothsayer is referenced
again. Panacea is not at all central to the main plot and
her storyline could have been omitted entirely, but it does
allow some cute moments. But we are left with a story that
is unsure about what story it wants to be. The film would
have been much stronger if it concentrated on a few stories,
rather than cherry picking a whole lot.
But I do not wish to attack the first two
thirds of the film too harshly. The village and fight scenes
are played to perfection, and are exactly what you'd imagine
it would be like to see these 2Ds scenes from the books played
in 3D. The invented sequence where Obelix is pretending to
be Obelus is rather humorous. He becomes Lucius Detritus (a
Roman leader plotting to topple Caesar) personal bodyguard
and then promoted to chief centurion. Asterix shouts in vain
for Obelix to stop acting, but Obelix never can quite hear
what he is saying… these scenes are played brilliantly
by Gerard. However, the joke wears thin in one of the set
pieces of the film where Asterix is forced to navigate filled
with snakes, lions, crocodiles (or "handbags" as
Asterix calls them!) cockroaches, elephants… and Asterix
gets out of these situations no thanks to Centurion Obelix,
to the audience's mild amusement… but then Asterix is
finally attacked by a man monster (this thing has to be seen
to believed!) that has absolutely no place in the Asterix
universe. The makers don't know when to stop.
It is the invented plot of the third act that
grates the most. Detrius now has the magic potion, and Getafix
tells us that if the village is to be saved they need unicorn
milk from his Great Grandfather Methelusix. They find a small
man with a long white beard and mushrooms growing on his face
who asks them riddles… a very bizarre scene with no comedic
pay off… but it gets worse. Once this milk has been added
to the potion, Asterix and Obelix multiply, creating a huge
army of Asterixs and Obelixs! This did put a small smile on
my face, but it seemed too over the top and fantastical for
the world of Asterix. It seemed to me a cheap way to end the
film, flying in the face of the subtle humour the Asterix
series is famous for.
But enough of the negatives, lets have some
more positives by Tautatis! The film looked visually very
rich, with some nice special effects and all the characters
translated well from their comic book origins.
I can't praise the English dubbing enough.
You can be sure of quality when Monty Python's Terry Jones
is in charge. Combined with Gerard's wonderful physicality,
his voicing of Obelix makes the character the film's highlight.
The synchronization of the characters' words to the lips is
near faultless. In comparison with the literally translated
English subtitles, the English dub is far superior. It can
be likened to Anthea Bell and Derek Hockridge's translation
of the Asterix comic books - they make up their own puns and
gags in the spirit of the French original when a literal translation
will not do. One scene I particularly appreciated was at the
beginning of the film was when Caesar addresses his troops
and the "loudspeakers" repeat what he said. While
the French version seemed to repeat exactly what he said,
Jones added in some of his own cleverness. Caesar: The might
of Rome is unstoppable! Loudspeaker: Caesar says a lot more
meaningless drivel which you'll all have to go "hurrah,
hurrah, hurrah" Legionaries: Hurrah, Hurrah, Hurrah!
It was a moment of Monty Python esque humour I just loved,
and the dub is a brilliant marriage with the humour of Asterix.
I think the film's sequel Mission
Cleopatra is superior in many ways, with a tighter more
focused storyline and better gags.
Take on Caesar deviates too far from the spirit
of Goscinny and Uderzo for my taste, but it is still an enjoyable
romp that will put a smile on your face.
 
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